Barry Alvarez

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Barry Alvarez (born December 30, 1946, Langeloth, Pennsylvania) is a retired college football head coach and current Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On July 28, 2005, Alvarez announced that after the 2005 season he would step down as head coach. Alvarez named then defensive coordinator Bret Bielema as his successor. Alvarez is currently still serving as Director of Athletics.

Contents 1 Early Life 2 Wisconsin 3 Life after coaching 4 Trivia

[edit] Early Life

Alvarez was born in the small town of Langeloth, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. At Union High School (currently Burgettstown Area Middle/High School), Alvarez won all-conference recognition and played in the Big 33 Football Classic, an invitation-only exhibition game for Pennsylvania’s top seniors.

After graduating high school, Alvarez left Pennsylvania and attended the University of Nebraska, on a football scholarship graduating in 1969. After college, he coached high school football in Nebraska and Iowa.

After coaching at Mason City High School, Alvarez began his college coaching career under legendary Iowa head coach Hayden Fry in 1979. He later became an assistant coach at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz. He served as Holtz's defensive coordinator on the 1988 Fighting Irish National Championship team.

[edit] Wisconsin

In 1990, Alvarez was named head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers and rejuvenated a floundering program and became the winningest coach in school history, leading the Badgers to three Big Ten championships and three Rose Bowl victories.

Alvarez replaced Pat Richter as Athletic Director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004.

In 2000, Alvarez and his wife Cindy endowed a $250,000 football scholarship at the university.

[edit] Life after coaching

Alvarez concluded his career at Wisconsin with a win over the Auburn Tigers in the 2006 Capital One Bowl, bringing his all-time record at Wisconsin to 118-73-4 (.615), with three Rose Bowl wins and an 8-3 (.727) record in bowl games.

On 13 October 2006, a bronze statue of Alvarez was unveiled in the Kellner Plaza of Camp Randall Stadium. The statue honoring Alvarez had been announced the previous year, at his last home game as head coach. [1]

During the 2006-07 bowl season, Alvarez worked as a color commentator/analyst for FOX Sports. He worked on both the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game. [2]

[edit] Trivia

• In 1994, Babcock Dairy Store, housed in Babcock Hall, (home of the UW-Madison's Department of Food Science, College of Ag and Life Sciences) developed an ice cream flavor called "Berry Alvarez" in honor of the coach. It's flavor is a mixture of raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry.
• In 2001, Hispanic Business magazine named Barry Alvarez one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics.[3]
• The only Big Ten coach to win two consecutive Rose Bowls. Only one of six coaches to win at least three Rose Bowls.
• Of all coaches with three or more Rose Bowl appearances, he is one of only two with an undefeated record (John Robinson is the other).
• Alvarez had six nine win seasons. Prior to Alvarez's era, Wisconsin only had four in nearly one hundred years.

Preceded by Don Morton

University of Wisconsin-Madison Head Football Coach 1990– 2006

Succeeded by Bret Bielema

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